New Skin For My Merc

[John Peerce]

Hi all,

I am thinking about having my car repainted. Its not that old, a 1999 C43 Brilliant Silver with 65k miles, but has a fair share of nasty stone chips on the bonnet, and was keyed few months ago above one of the the rear wheel archs.

It will cost about £300 to paint the bonnet and the rear panel which is keyed. However, for about 1200 in total i can have the entire car paitned at the same workshop: bumpers, bonnet, doors, everything. I know £1200 is a lot of money, but i am thinking that for the extra £900, i will get a car that will look (hopefully) as if it has just been driven off the show room.. and will freshen up the brilliant silver colour that has lost some of its luster (i am the second owner, and had i been the first, i would have certainly looked better after the body work with protective waxing etc).

I already had my rear bumber painted at that same workshop exactly a year ago to remove scuff marks, and the paint and the lacquering looks fine one year on... no cracks or peeling of the lacquer, and infact its impossible to tell that the rear bumper has been resprayed. The workshop looks moderately proffessional, and do mostly insurance jobs (they are recommended by churchill insurance or something). They said it will take a week for this job.

I have some serious worries about such a step though.. and i would appreciate it if people here would share their thoughts on these issues:

My main worry is that the new paint layer and lacuqer will deteriorate over time, and crack and/or degrade. Although as i mention my rear bumber paint quality looks fine one year on, but maybe one year is not long enough. Can a re-paint quality ever be as good - or as lasting - as the original ?

Another worry is that the paint quality may not be even. I can see that painting the front wings and bumpers is not problem because part these come off, but paining the rest of the car .. ? Also i have heard that the roof cannot be painted easily ( i am not sure what that means! )

Anyone with experience or thoughts .. ? Any other issues i should be considering ?

 

[sym]

Before any smart-alecs tell him not to have it re-sprayed in dull chrome / shiny grey . . . . . . but a different colour instead . . . .

John - if you are planning on keeping the car for a while, then that sounds like good value. I'm sure if you have it done by a reputable bodyshop that is used to dealing with Mercs, then it will be a good job.

S.

 

[GrahamC230K]

Koolvin had his car resprayed recently - he may be able to offer some info.

 

[lotusmark2]

Hi John
Had mine done in January and they made a great job with no problems at all, as SYM said if they are reputable it should be no problem and well worth the money.

 

[Steve_Perry]

John,

Since your car is a 1999 model year, it would be covered by the 30 year anti rust Mobilo Life warranty. The one main aspect I would consider is how a full body respray would affect your Mobilo Life warranty. I'm pretty sure that MB would argue that the warranty is void if a respray is carried out by a non MB bodyshop.

Maybe this is not an issue for you.

S.

 

[PJH]

Before any smart-alecs tell him not to have it re-sprayed in dull chrome / shiny grey . . . . . . but a different colour instead . . . .

S.

SYM:- Kinky and myself could be upset at those sort of comments.....
and your S1 LVR reg plate has Ill egal spac ing.. so there.

 

[sym]

SYM:- Kinky and myself could be upset at those sort of comments.....

Really ? That never occurred to me - honest !

and your S1 LVR reg plate has Ill egal spac ing.. so there.

Nope - I think you'll find the spacing on my IMAGINARY plate is actually quite correct & le gal !


John - "Craftsman" is the Bodyshop that Koolvin used for his respray. I have also used them recently to have new door handles fitted and colour coded. They deal with a lot of Mercs, and do a lot of Merc warranty work, I believe.

Can provide details if needed.

S.

 

[Kinky]

I'm biting my tongue.

Honest.

Suffice to say - if you're gonna get a re-spray - do it in style .....

 

[sym]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... Cadbury's Dairy Milk .... Niiiiiiiiice !

(couldn't eat a whole one though )

S.

 

[Kinky]

..... Niiiiiiiiice ! ...

Yeah - you should see it for real - it's irredescent - a mixture of 3 or 4 colours - just to die for.

Sigh ......

 

[John Peerce]

many thanks for all the replies so far.

lotusmarke2, that is one seriously nice & shine car you have there ! ... (sigh)

Steve, i appreciate the point about the warrenty. It leads me to think that maybe in the least i should opt for a respray shop that it used by mercedes..

kinky,.. nice one.... suits the TVR well.. but for a good old merc, Silver rulz ok !

Sym, i would very much appreciate it if you can get me the address/tel no. of that "Craftsman" bodyshop (you can post it or pm me if you wish). Certainly the fact that koolvin has used them augurs well for a start !

So it does look that i should shop around more... and get other quotes. BTW, the body shop which i refer to in my message above is located about 20 meters at the end of the cul-de-sac wher Geroge Fraser is located. WIth so much time at hand whenever i take my car to GF, i couldnt help loitering into the MOT test center next door and the Bodyshop next door to that !

Keep the advice coming please

 

[Kinky]

.... kinky... nice one.... suits the TVR well.. but for a good old merc, Silver rulz ok ! ....

Sorry - I think you've been brainwashed.

Calling Dr. Walker ... Calling Dr. Walker .... WALKER

We need the colourwash machine IMMEDIATELY :bannana:

 

[sym]

Right - lets move this to Bodywork, first of all . . . got so excited about a Silver C43 that I didn't realise it was in "General".

I repeat "Silver is the colour most often associated with style and success"

OK - that's enough subliminal colourwashing.

John - Craftsman is located in Hounslow - just outside Heathrow Airport, and conveniently 5 minutes from my office

Craftsman Car Body Repairs
(020) 8572 4181

6, Lawrence Rd
Hounslow
TW4 6DN

Ask for "Cooks".

S.

 

[Kinky]

... I repeat "Silver is the colour most often associated with style and success" ...

Does that explain why it's in the minority?

And if it is ....

How many silver Astons, Ferraris, TVRs, Lambos, Land Rovers, Bentleys, Rollers, etc do you see on the road ?

I thank you.

Sorry to hi-jack your thread John but I think we should explain that colour is the way forward.

Paging Dr. Walker ... paging Dr. Walker .... paging Nurse Hinchliffe .... paging nurse hinchliffe ....

 

[KillerHERTZ]

How much would you reckon 2 bumps and 2 side skirts would cost at a sprayers?

 

[Ian B Walker]

Before any smart-alecs tell him not to have it re-sprayed in dull chrome / shiny grey . . . . . . but a different colour instead . . . .

S.

As if I would

Edit.........Aw to hell with it, read below

 

[Ian B Walker]

Sorry - I think you've been brainwashed.

Calling Dr. Walker ... Calling Dr. Walker .... WALKER

We need the colourwash machine IMMEDIATELY :bannana:

Gone for the stirup pump and bucket, Stand back, this is a serious case. Pass me the Blue paint "K".

 

[jaymanek]

Hi John,

the price youve been quoted does seem to be very cheap to repaint the whole of a C43. For that price, i doubt theyll be removing ALL the trims, windows, screens etc etc. TBH i wouldnt risk it, you may end up with a lot of overspray to clean and not a nice finish.
If i was buying a C43, i would be extremely suspicious if the whole car had been respreayed. Remember this is a C43.. If you ever want to sell it i would keep the paintwork as original as poss.
No matter what they say, i can guarantee that youll be able to tell its been resprayed. If you really do want it done, then makesure you assess their quality of work carefully by looking at other jobs they have done. Also makesure every last trim is going to come off, all door shuts will be done etc not just a quick mask up and spray job...

 

[John Peerce]

Hi Jaymanek,

I think the point you are making about the ability to sell the car later on is an important one.. I have asked that particular bodyshop that *if* i choose them to do the job, will they agree to give me signed letter that at the point i handed them the car there was no sign of any crash damage. In other words, this respray was done for cosmetic reasons, not crash repair.

However even though they agreed, i doubt that if i had my car done with them such a letter would make much difference in the future, as future buyers might argue more about the quality of the finish anyway, as you say..

I must admit I am also getting suspicious of their low quote. I always thought such a job would cost £2k to £2.5k, and they are quoting basically half of that., i doubt they are doing me a favour, it must be more to do with the effort they are going to put into the job.

Sym has recommended checking the workshop which koolvin had his car done, near heathrow.. so i will check them and see if I can be convinced that they can do a high quality job. Otherwise i agree with you, there is no point in ruining the car.

BTW, do you know of any useful links where i can read up on general info about what is involved in respary jobs, and what trims should be removed etc ? I feel i ought to know more about this *before* i visit various bodyshops.

Many Thanks.

 

[jaymanek]

Hi,

Ive had my 123 resprayed twice. The first time, the sprayer went and left the country on me and so the job ended up being finished off half heartedly by someone else, so i have plenty of experience of bad bodywork! The second time was a full restoration with everything removed....
For a proper respray on a top quality motor like yours, every last thing should be removed externally. All trims, lights, glass, rubber etc etc. Then there should be undercoating, at least 5 coats of paint and then lacquer. If the guy next to georges does that for 1200 quid then id go ahead (depending on quality of finish), but insist on checking at every stage. Also check that he will guarantee no rust or peeling etc for a suitable length of time...
Drop me an email if you want more info... Incidently my restoration ended up costing me about 3K, but you wont have that horrible thing called rust yet i hope!!

Oh by the way, when i asked george to recommend a good sprayer, he gave me the number of someone else, not the guy next door?! i had it on my phone, but cant find it now....

Overall if i were you, i would just get the bits done that need doing assuming the rest of the car isnt too bad...

Jay